Superconducting-qubit readout via low-backaction electro-optic transduction.

Entangling microwave-frequency superconducting quantum processors through optical light at ambient temperature would enable means of secure communication and distributed quantum information processing1. However, transducing quantum signals between these disparate regimes of the electro-magnetic spectrum remains an outstanding goal2-9, and interfacing superconducting qubits, which are constrained to operate at millikelvin temperatures, with electro-optic transducers presents considerable challenges owing to the deleterious effects of optical photons on superconductors9,10. Moreover, many remote entanglement protocols11-14 require multiple qubit gates both preceding and following the upconversion of the quantum state, and thus an ideal transducer should impart minimal backaction15 on the qubit. Here we demonstrate readout of a superconducting transmon qubit through a low-backaction electro-optomechanical transducer. The modular nature of the transducer and circuit quantum electrodynamics system used in this work enable complete isolation of the qubit from optical photons, and the backaction on the qubit from the transducer is less than that imparted by thermal radiation from the environment. Moderate improvements in the transducer bandwidth and the added noise will enable us to leverage the full suite of tools available in circuit quantum electrodynamics to demonstrate transduction of non-classical signals from a superconducting qubit to the optical domain.

Reconfigurable re-entrant cavity for wireless coupling to an electro-optomechanical device.

An electro-optomechanical device capable of microwave-to-optics conversion has recently been demonstrated, with the vision of enabling optical networks of superconducting qubits. Here we present an improved converter design that uses a three-dimensional microwave cavity for coupling between the microwave transmission line and an integrated LC resonator on the converter chip. The new design simplifies the optical assembly and decouples it from the microwave part of the setup. Experimental demonstrations show that the modular device assembly allows us to flexibly tune the microwave coupling to the converter chip while maintaining small loss. We also find that electromechanical experiments are not impacted by the additional microwave cavity. Our design is compatible with a high-finesse optical cavity and will improve optical performance.